Actor partners with Colors to bring internationally renowned format to India
It was a noteworthy moment for the Indian television industry when actor Anil Kapoor, who recently acquired the rights to bring internationally renowned format ‘24’ to India, announced the broadcast partner for the show. The announcement is a big one for Kapoor and for Colors, the channel he zeroed down on after speaking to various leading players for the show. It is also an interesting development from an industry viewpoint. As a format, ‘24’ has been immensely successful in the US and India is the first market outside the US that the show is being taken to. The single reason for that is Kapoor’s conviction that the show would resonate with Indian audiences as the nature of the content is one whose time has come in India.
In a conversation with IMPACT, Kapoor recalls, “For me, it was a tough decision to even accept the role of Omar Hassan in the international format of the show. On the face of it, it did not instantly look like a big role on the back of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, which turned out to be a historic film and where I enjoyed a big role on the big screen. But despite being a television property, ‘24’ is hugely popular and a highly followed show. Everyone encouraged me to work in it and I took it up. Had I not taken that decision, I would not have really come to know the show this closely and become as intent to bring 24 to India.”
The biggest challenge to make ‘24’ click is now adapting it to the Indian taste. Colors and Kapoor have worked to bring together what they believe is the right creative team for this, led by Abhinay Deo, Rensil D’Silva and Manisha Sharma from Colors’ programming team.
DO IT DIFFERENT
For both Anil Kapoor and Colors, the driving motto is ‘doing it differently or doing something different every day’. And it is this like-mindedness that led to this partnership. But one cannot ignore the fact that for both entities, ‘24’ is also a sizeable risk, given the investment that is being made in the show. While the two are not disclosing any numbers, industry sources assert that this would be one of the most expensive deals on television for a show of this nature.
“Everything is a risk today. Even the most successful directors and content creators will tell you that one never really knows what is it that clicks, but that is creativity. But if we did not see this as something that has potential, we would never put the resources and finances that we are putting in this. We have everything right and we go with the intent to make it successful,” said Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors.
Nayak elaborated that the uniqueness of this show in particular was that it did not fall into a specific genre. “It has drama, fiction, action, crime and all of it added with a layer of the real time sensibility. We came up with the phrase ‘hybrid genre’ as there is no other show in the country that is on similar lines. And you will notice that even in our movies, these are the genres people watch with interest. People relate with all this a lot more now,” he adds.
For Kapoor, there are three things that he believes are working in favour of the show. First, the intent. “I think for everything in life, the most important element to succeed is the right intent, more so in business and creativity. Anything done with wrong intent will fall flat on its face,” said Kapoor. The second factor for him is the timing of the show. He pointed out, “There have been various reality and other kinds of shows that Indian audiences have experienced but the time for a show such as this has come in India. And the final factor is how willing you are to push the envelope and think out of the box. My entire three-decade long career has been about doing something others have not and this is true for Colors too. It is are ready to stick its neck out to do something different. We are going to give it our best shot.”
Anil Kapoor will play the lead role for ‘24’s India adaptation. The show is targeted to launch in the summer of 2013.
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